Traditional French Chocolate Eclairs (Eclairs au Chocolat)

By á-1590

Ingredients

• For the pâte à choux:
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup (115 g) butter, cut into pieces
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup flour, sifted
• 4 eggs, large
• For the vanilla pastry cream:
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 5 egg yolks
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 4 Tbsp corn starch
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 Tbsp butter
• For the chocolate glaze:
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 4 oz dark chocolate
• 1 Tbsp butter

Details

Adapted from communitytable.com

Preparation

Step 1

For the pâte à choux:
Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C) and line a large baking sheet with baking paper.

Put the water, milk, butter, sugar and salt in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat. When it boils, remove it from heat immediately and stir in the sifted flour with a wooden spoon, stirring it in all at once and quickly, until the flour is incorporated.

Put the pan back over the heat, and vigorously stir the dough, until it pulls away from the sides of the pan and no longer sticks to the spoon.

Scrape the dough out into a bowl, and add the eggs one at a time, stirring constantly (or use a mixer with a dough hook attached) until the dough is glossy and smooth.

Fill a pastry bag with a large plain tip and pipe out 8 4-5" lengths of dough.

Bake for about 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375°F (190°C) and prop the oven door open with the handle of a wooden spoon and bake for about 25 minutes more, until golden brown.

Cool completely on a wire rack at room temperature.

For the pastry cream:
While the eclairs are baking, in a medium saucepan, bring the 2 cups of milk to a boil over medium heat, then remove from heat.

In a mixing bowl, whisk the sugar and egg yolks together, until white and fluffy. Add the flour and corn starch, and mix thoroughly until combined and smooth.

Whisk in about ⅓ cup of the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly as you pour it in. Whisk in the remaining hot mixture, then pour it back into the saucepan and cook again over medium high heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and begins to boil.

Stir in the vanilla and butter and allow to cool.

For the chocolate glaze:
While the eclairs are cooling, put the cream, chocolate, and butter in a heat proof bowl over boiling water and as the chocolate melts, stir to combine.

To assemble:
Fill a pastry bag with the pastry cream, and use a medium/small tip to pipe the filling into the eclairs. You can do this from the bottom, making two holes. Do not over-fill. (You can also cut the eclairs almost in half and just pipe the cream into the middle of them.)

Dip the top of the eclairs into the still warm chocolate glaze, then set on a sheet pan and chill in the fridge for about 1 hour to set the glaze.